A federal judge has temporarily blocked Louisiana from using nitrogen gas to execute a death row inmate after he pleaded with the court to give him a more 'humane' death.
Jessie Hoffman Jr. was scheduled to die March 18 by nitrogen gas hypoxia. It would be the first such execution in Louisiana and Hoffman had argued that it was cruel and unusual punishment.
The Wednesday ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick of the Middle Louisiana District only temporarily stops the execution, NBC News reported. Dick ruled that it was in the "best interests of the public" to examine the chosen method of execution more fully.
"The public has paramount interest in a legal process that enables thoughtful and well-informed deliberations, particularly when the ultimate fundamental right, the right to life, is placed in the government's hands," she wrote, according to NBC News.
Attorney General Liz Murrill said that the state disagrees with the decision and will immediately appeal.
Hoffman faces death for the 1996 rape and murder of 28-year-old Mary "Molly" Elliott, CNN reported. In a court filing, Hoffman has asked that his sentence be carried out in a more "humane" way.
The execution would involve putting a gas mask over Hoffman's face and executing him through nitrogen hypoxia. Among Hoffman's arguments is that as a Buddhist, he will not be able to use his breathing and meditation techniques, violating his constitutional rights, CNN reported.
Hoffman's attorneys also argue that he is claustrophobic and has post-traumatic stress disorder and that the nitrogen gas mask would cause mental torture, CNN reported.
Nitrogen gas has been is a recent execution method. Alabama was the first state to use it in January 2024 in the execution of 58-year-old Kenneth Smith, WBRZ-2 reported.
"When they turned the nitrogen on, he began to convulse. He popped up on the gurney over and over and over again. It's wrong to experiment on people. But that's what I saw," Smith's spiritual adviser, Rev. Jeff Hood, told the station.
In previous court filings, the state has argued that nitrogen hypoxia is fast and relatively painless because the person loses consciousness quickly, NBC News reported. However, critics have said that even if a small amount of oxygen enters the mask, the person could experience slow asphyxiation.
